In 1881 Royal Mail first encouraged the public to ‘Post Early’

Early posting of Christmas cards eased the build-up and pressure on postal staff over the busiest period of the year. From the 1890s onwards, notices advising early posting could be seen affixed to letter boxes. Advising the public to post early was further developed within a GPO publicity poster campaign that was first introduced in 1933, by the newly established GPO Public Relations Department and its director Sir Stephen Tallents. The drive to encourage the public to post early has since become the longest running campaign by Royal Mail.